Clinical evaluation of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases through images is a challenge for the beginner rheumatologist since image diagnosis is an expert task with a long learning curve. The aim ...of this work was to present a narrative review on the main ultrasound computer-aided diagnosis systems that may help clinicians thanks to the progress made in the application of artificial intelligence techniques. We performed a literature review searching for original articles in seven repositories, from 1970 to 2019, and identified 11 main methods currently used in ultrasound computer-aided diagnosis systems. Also, we found that rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and idiopathic inflammatory myopathies are the four musculoskeletal and rheumatic diseases most studied that use these innovative systems, with an overall accuracy of > 75%.
Microwave ablation is commonly used in soft tissue tumors, but its application in bone tumors has been barely analyzed. Antennas to treat bone tissue (~3 cm2), has been lately designed. Bone tumors ...at pathological stage T1 can reach 8 cm wide. An antenna cannot cover it; therefore, our goal is to evaluate the thermal performance of multi-antenna arrays. Linear, triangular, and square configurations of double slot (DS) and monopole (MTM) antennas were evaluated. A parametric study (finite element method), with variations in distance between antennas (ad) and bone thickness (bt) was implemented. Array feasibility was evaluated by SWR, ablated tissue volume, etc. The linear configuration with DS and MTM antennas showed SWR ≤ 1.6 for ad = 1 mm−15 mm and bt = 20 mm−40 mm, and ad = 10 mm−15 mm and bt = 25 mm−40 mm, respectively; the triangular showed SWR ≤ 1.5 for ad = 5 mm−15 mm and bt = 20 mm−40 mm and ad = 10 mm−15 mm and bt = 25 mm−40 mm. The square configuration (DS) generated SWR ≤ 1.5 for ad = 5 mm−20 mm and bt = 20 mm−40 mm, and the MTM, SWR ≤ 1.5 with ad = 10 mm and bt = 25 mm−40 mm. Ablated tissue was 4.65 cm3−10.46 cm3 after 5 min. According to treatment time and array configuration, maximum temperature and ablated tissue is modified. Bone tumors >3 cm3 can be treated by these antenna-arrays.
The main goal of this study is the design and evaluation of a novel cooling system for micro-coaxial antennas, used to treat bone tumors, which avoids unwanted heating in the healthy tissue ...surrounding the antenna, without affecting the antenna's performance (low input power and treatment time). The cooling system was designed according to the geometrical characteristics of two micro-coaxial antennas. To evaluate the performance of the cooling system, several tests in ex vivo porcine bone tissue were carried out: each antenna was fed with 10 W and applied for 10 min. To evaluate the effect of the cooling system over the ablation areas, a comparison of the antenna's performance with and without the cooling system was carried out; moreover, thermal images were used to calculate the ablation areas. The cooling system reduced the ablation areas by 7.8%; this temperature reduction was in muscle. Also, the temperature of the muscle surrounding the antenna's body was lower than 43.0 °C and an increase of 5.6% in power loss was registered due to the cooling system. In all the cases, ablation temperatures in bone were reached even when the cooling system was applied. The cooling system reduces the temperature of the antenna's body without modifying its electromagnetic distribution. In fact, the antenna's performance was minimally affected by the cooling system, i.e., the ablation areas were like those obtained without it, as well as the input power (10 W) and the application time (10 min).
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•Microwave ablation system designed to treat bone tumors.•Double slot and Monopole antennas designed to specifically treat bone tumors.•Cooling system maintains physiological temperatures in healthy tissue.•Lower input power and treatment time can be used even with the cooling system.•Thermal images are used to numerically estimate the ablation areas.
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•Two mutagenesis approaches for changing LipR atypical oxyanion hole were developed.•Fungal Y-type oxyanion hole is required for LipR activity.•Tyr110 plays a crucial role for enzyme ...activity.•Mutant LipR-D111G shows a shift towards a longer chain-length substrate (C18:1).
Rhodococcus sp CR-53 lipase LipR was the first characterized member of bacterial lipase family X. Interestingly, LipR displays some similarity with α/β-hydrolases of the C. antartica lipase A (CAL-A)-like superfamily (abH38), bearing a Y-type oxyanion hole, never found before among bacterial lipases. In order to explore this unusual Y-type oxyanion hole, and to improve LipR performance, two modification strategies based on site directed or saturation mutagenesis were addressed. Initially, a small library of mutants was designed to convert LipR Y-type oxyanion hole (YDS) into one closer to those most frequently found in bacteria (GGG(X)). However, activity was completely lost in all mutants obtained, indicating that the Y-type oxyanion hole of LipR is required for activity. A second approach was addressed to modify the two main oxyanion hole residues Tyr110 and Asp111, previously described for CAL-A as the most relevant amino acids involved in stabilization of the enzyme-substrate complex. A saturation mutagenesis library was prepared for each residue (Tyr110 and Asp111), and activity of the resulting variants was assayed on different chain length substrates. No functional LipR variants could be obtained when Tyr110 was replaced by any other amino acids, indicating that this is a crucial residue for catalysis. However, among the Asp111 variants obtained, LipR D111G produced a functional enzyme. Interestingly, this LipR-YGS variant showed less activity than wild type LipR on short- or mid- chain substrates but displayed a 5.6-fold increased activity on long chain length substrates. Analysis of the 3D model and in silico docking studies of this enzyme variant suggest that substitution of Asp by Gly produces a wider entrance tunnel that would allow for a better and tight accommodation of larger substrates, thus justifying the experimental results obtained.
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are engaging interfaces that can be of benefit for rehabilitation therapy. However, they are still not widely used, and the use of surface ...electromyography (sEMG) signals is not established for them. Our goal is to explore whether there is a standardized protocol towards therapeutic applications since there are not many methodological reviews that focus on sEMG control/feedback. A systematic literature review using the PRISMA (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses) methodology is conducted. A Boolean search in databases was performed applying inclusion/exclusion criteria; articles older than 5 years and repeated were excluded. A total of 393 articles were selected for screening, of which 66.15% were excluded, 131 records were eligible, 69.46% use neither VR/AR interfaces nor sEMG control; 40 articles remained. Categories are, application: neurological motor rehabilitation (70%), prosthesis training (30%); processing algorithm: artificial intelligence (40%), direct control (20%); hardware: Myo Armband (22.5%), Delsys (10%), proprietary (17.5%); VR/AR interface: training scene model (25%), videogame (47.5%), first-person (20%). Finally, applications are focused on motor neurorehabilitation after stroke/amputation; however, there is no consensus regarding signal processing or classification criteria. Future work should deal with proposing guidelines to standardize these technologies for their adoption in clinical practice.
XOS are particularly interesting bioactive molecules. Bacillus safensis CBLMA18, a xylanolytic bacterium has been isolated and two of its xylanases have been identified and fully characterized. ...Xyn11A is an extracellular 22.5-kDa GH11 xylanase while a second xylanase, Xyn10B, corresponds to an intracellular 48-kDa GH10 enzyme. Both unimodular xylanases showed activity only on xylan substrates with important differences in their catalytic pattern. Xyn11A displays higher activity on glucuronoxylans, with an optimum at pH 8 and 50 °C, and a Vmax of 5281 U/mg on beechwood xylan, meanwhile Xyn10B prefers arabinoxylans, with an optimum of pH 7 and 60 °C, and a Vmax of 50.29 U/mg on rye arabinoxylan. The antioxidant activity of xylanase-generated XOS obtained from glucuronoxylans (UXOS) and arabinoxylans (AXOS) was tested with the ABTS (2, 2′-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) method. UXOS showed higher antioxidant activity than AXOS (>80% of antioxidant capacity). Thin layer chromatography and MALDI-TOF MS analysis showed that UXOS comprise neutral and acidic XOS with methylglucuronic acid (MeGlcA) ramifications, while AXOS contain only neutral molecules with arabinose decorations. The MeGlcA ramifications seem to have an important role in the antioxidant capacity of oligosaccharides. Besides, the increase of UXOS size correlates with an increase in their activity.
•Xylanases from B. safensis identified and characterized for first time.•Enzymatic production of UXOS and AXOS.•UXOS show higher antioxidant activity than AXOS.•Increase of UXOS size correlates with increasing antioxidant activity.
Introduction
Up to 80% of post-stroke patients present upper-limb motor impairment (ULMI), causing functional limitations in daily activities and loss of independence. UMLI is seldom fully recovered ...after stroke when using conventional therapeutic approaches. Functional Electrical Stimulation Therapy (FEST) controlled by Brain–Computer Interface (BCI) is an alternative that may induce neuroplastic changes, even in chronic post-stroke patients. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the effects of a P300-based BCI-controlled FEST intervention, for ULMI recovery of chronic post-stroke patients.
Methods
A non-randomized pilot study was conducted, including 14 patients divided into 2 groups: BCI-FEST, and Conventional Therapy. Assessments of Upper limb functionality with Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), performance impairment with Fugl–Meyer assessment (FMA), Functional Independence Measure (FIM) and spasticity through Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) were performed at baseline and after carrying out 20 therapy sessions, and the obtained scores compared using Chi square and Mann–Whitney
U
statistical tests ( = 0.05).
Results
After training, we found statistically significant differences between groups for FMA (
p
= 0.012), ARAT (
p
< 0.001), and FIM (
p
= 0.025) scales.
Discussion
It has been shown that FEST controlled by a P300-based BCI, may be more effective than conventional therapy to improve ULMI after stroke, regardless of chronicity.
Conclusion
The results of the proposed BCI-FEST intervention are promising, even for the most chronic post-stroke patients often relegated from novel interventions, whose expected recovery with conventional therapy is very low. It is necessary to carry out a randomized controlled trial in the future with a larger sample of patients.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the prevalence of controlling violence experienced by adolescents in the Region of Murcia, as well as to analyze the patterns and sociodemographic variables ...involved such as sex, age, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and country of origin of the families with the consequent cultural background provided. Using a sample of 454 secondary and high school students who completed a survey, the results revealed that 29.96% of the respondents were perpetrators (exerted violence) and 35.68% were victims of at least one dating abuse behavior. Significant differences were found in the occurrence of abuse based on family background, age, and religion. Finally, the results revealed that there were no significant differences in the victimization or perpetration of violence in relation to sex, but the older the victim, the less control exercised in cybernetic media, and the greater the control of the other in relation to family origin, where those from Latin American and African countries showed a greater propensity to control their partners than those of Spanish origin.
A mesenchymal transition occurs both during the natural evolution of glioblastoma (GBM) and in response to therapy. Here, we report that the adhesion G-protein-coupled receptor, GPR56/ADGRG1, ...inhibits GBM mesenchymal differentiation and radioresistance. GPR56 is enriched in proneural and classical GBMs and is lost during their transition toward a mesenchymal subtype. GPR56 loss of function promotes mesenchymal differentiation and radioresistance of glioma initiating cells both in vitro and in vivo. Accordingly, a low GPR56-associated signature is prognostic of a poor outcome in GBM patients even within non-G-CIMP GBMs. Mechanistically, we reveal GPR56 as an inhibitor of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway, thereby providing the rationale by which this receptor prevents mesenchymal differentiation and radioresistance. A pan-cancer analysis suggests that GPR56 might be an inhibitor of the mesenchymal transition across multiple tumor types beyond GBM.
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•GPR56 knockdown promotes mesenchymal differentiation and radioresistance of GICs•GPR56 inhibits the NF-κB signaling pathway•A low GPR56-associated signature is a poor prognostic factor in non-G-CIMP GBM patients•A low GPR56-associated signature correlates with mesenchymal signatures in many cancers
Moreno et al. report that the adhesion G-protein-coupled receptor, GPR56, regulates the transcriptional plasticity of glioma initiating cells by inhibiting their mesenchymal differentiation and, therefore, prevents radioresistance. Their results also suggest that GPR56 might have a similar role in other tumor types. This study provides a druggable therapeutic target to overcome radioresistance in glioblastoma and other cancers.
According to statistics of the American Cancer Society, the number of young people diagnosed with bone tumors is growing. Surgery and radiotherapy are the common treatments, however they have several ...side effects which affect the patient’s life. Therefore, a cheaper and less side-effect therapy called thermal ablation has been explored. The goal of this paper is to measure the therapeutic temperatures and the viability of a double slot antenna designed to treat bone tissue by microwave ablation. The antenna (at an operating frequency of 2.45 GHz) was designed, modeled, constructed, and experimentally evaluated. The finite element method was used to predict the antenna performance by means of 2D axisymmetric models. The modeling parameters were used to build the antenna. The experimental evaluation shows that the antenna behavior is repeatable and the standing wave ratio (SWR) was around 1.5–1.8. Temperatures around 60–100 °C were achieved over the bone tissue. The antenna insertion modifies the antenna performance. An insertion lower than 3.5 cm is not recommended because the convection effects modified the tissue temperature. The thermal patterns showed a heat focus near to the slots, which makes it possible for use in the treatment of small tumors.
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